Staying Focused vs New Ideas

If you are like me at all, you constantly have a flow of ideas for new businesses, websites, and more. While a creative mind is a fantastic thing for anyone looking to be income independent, it can also be an Achilles heel. The prioritization of current projects with planning and starting up new ones can be daunting even for the most seasoned entrepreneur. So how do you go about juggling everything while maintaining productivity? This could be a very complicated answer but fortunately for you, I’ve spent the time in your very shoes to provide some tips on how to manage it all.

1. Don’t Bury Yourself

Let’s say you are currently running two different projects: a drop shipping business and a niche e-commerce store. The drop shipping game has been running smoothly now that you have the process down and you are starting to finally get some organic traffic to your niche c-commerce website. Now you’re itching to fire up something new and shiny. The allure of new is always going to be easy to fall for. First you need to step back and really give your current operations a good review. Can they operate well with you giving them significantly less face time? Remember when starting these off, how much work was involved in getting them set up and running correctly? You will need to be able to take time away from them to get the hot newness going. Can you afford to take the hit in income or will they continue to run smoothly? Only when your current lines of business are taken care of and can run for a bit of time without your ever watching eyes, should you consider getting into the next project.

2. Always Starting, Never Finishing

A lot of creative people have a very hard time following through with their ideas. They get started and put everything they have into a project… that is until they wake up in the middle of the night with the next “big one”. I’ve been there before. I’ve have dozens of domain names just sitting and waiting to get built out for that idea I had months ago. I was a habitual starter of things at one time. I put everything I had into something for a month or two and if I wasn’t making money hand over fist, I got drawn to the flame of another idea or concept. If this is you, STOP! The fact that you have a bunch of great ideas is wonderful, that’s really going to benefit you as you build your empire, but you need to build a shack first. As you brainstorm new things, keep a written log of them all. This way you don’t forget something and you can prioritize new things as time and resources become available. But in the end, remember that you have limited resources in regards to time and money. Stay focused on the projects that are within your scope and only reach into the bag for a new one when you have the resources or must throw the towel in on one of your current ones.

3. Start With a Plan

One of the biggest reasons people find themselves jumping from idea to idea is the lack of a clearly written business plan. Even if you are building a niche website whose earnings are only expected to net you $100 a month, it still deserves the time to create an actionable plan that you can follow. These plans don’t have to be full blown business plans, but they should include a lot of the core elements of one. Your plan should include at minimum a timeline of work to keep you on track, a budget, and a marketing plan. With your working timelines, keep it realistic. Are you really going to work 12 hours a day for seven days a week? Probably not. If you know you can devote one or two hours a day to the project and not burn yourself out, then schedule your work flow accordingly. Making sure it’s done right and not just quickly, is the best foundation you can lay for your ideas.

4. Pay to Play

You’ve got everything lined up, a pipeline of fresh ideas, and you’re already mentally spending the money you haven’t made. But before you get started on that first project, it would probably be wise to consider the much bigger picture. Your ideas themselves are like small mini businesses, each one with its own plan and goals. If you are setting this whole thing up as your livelihood, it’s best to create an actual small company to act as the umbrella for each of them. Setting up an LLC or another form of legal company, is a pretty painless process. Not unlike you projects though, it will take a little time and some money to get started. Filing for a business, setting up a bank account, getting an EIN or tax number (it’s like a social security number for your business) all take effort from you. Though having a real business to work from comes with a lot of advantages and provides protection for you and your family’s personal assets. You can even check out our article on some of the great tax deductions for small businesses that you can take advantage of.

Being creative isn’t a bad thing. In the ever changing world of internet marketing is a fantastic quality to have. Always looking for new areas of growth, new concepts, or just a new niche to explore, can all be beneficial to you as you work to become income independent. Just remember to work smarter and not harder. Don’t sell currents ideas short by taking your focus away on all of the new stuff you come up with. Stay organized and build them out one at a time and you’ll be well on your way.

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Who is Mike Rioux?

Having been in internet marketing since 2006, I became a paid professional PPC manager at a large web services company in 2012. In 2014 I realized I wanted the freedom of a true IM lifestyle and GNM was born. Follow along, learn some things, and don't forget to Like Us on Facebook.